Select your climate zone Australia - cool/mountain Australia - sub-tropical Australia - temperate Australia - tropical New Zealand - cool/mountain New Zealand - sub-tropical New Zealand - temperate United Kingdom - cool/temperate United Kingdom - warm/temperate What is my climate zone?

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
								P	P	P

(Best months for planting Luffa in Australia - cool/mountain regions)

P = Sow direct in garden where they are to grow.

• Harvest in 11-12 weeks. Use as a back scratcher.
• Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 20°C and 30°C.
• Space plants: 45-75cm

This type of squash while not strictly a vegetable can be eaten when young. They are more commonly grown to use when mature and dried.

The plants are frost tender and need warmth to grow successfully. Keep inside until all risk of frost is gone.

They grow on vines similar to cucumbers.

A large loofa makes a great back scratcher. Luffa can be cut into many shapes for scrubbing pads, padding, and other uses.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Luffa

The luffa flowers and fruits are soft and edible when young and are sometimes cooked and eaten like squash or okra. Loofah has been an important food source in many Asian cultures. The leaves and vines should not be eaten.

Your comments and tips

24 May 10 Heather (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Can anyone tell me the best time to plant Loofah seeds? I keep getting them started, forever buying seeds, they come up, healthy seedlings, I plant them out, then they die. We are 90 mins North West of Brisbane on the rim of Daguilar range.

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

19 May 10 dixiebelle (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I grew Luffa's in ACT, hoping maybe to get some loofahs from them. They took a while to really get going (after a good rain) then the vine took off, but wasn't til towards the end of Summer that any flowers finally came on. I was surprised they actually formed fruit, and thought it was too late by then anyway, but then they grew & grew, and even into Autumn, the vine & fruit were still green and growing well. I didn't do anything particular to help them grow, but perhaps will try pinching the tips to encourage more female flowers next year! I was going to leave them on the vine to dry, but a few mornings of frost put an end to that. I took off the large fruit, and the next day, the frost had killed the vine anyway. I am trying to dry the fruit out on the sunny laundry windowsill, and hope that does the trick!

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

18 May 10 Char (Australia - temperate climate)

I was able to buy these from Ebay australia.. just did a Luffa seed search

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

17 May 10 George Willcox (Australia - temperate climate)

You can get these on-line from Green Harvest Seeds Look them up via a web-search to get the URL Hope this helps!

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

17 May 10 Kathy (Australia - temperate climate)

where can I buy these seed in australia

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

18 Feb 10 Jayaprakash (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Where can I find Luffa seeds??

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

02 Feb 10 Celeste (Australia - tropical climate)

Loofas will tolerate the dry conditions but will grow pretty much anywhere.I have always left the sponges dry on the vine. What are the advantages of peeling them green other than the whiteness? My vine is now two years old.It diddn't get cold enough last year to kill it off. As this is the first vine I grew where I live now, I'll be interested to see if it survives another year and how it behaves.

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

31 Jan 10 diane (Australia - tropical climate)

I'm fascinated at the idea of needing to plant luffa seeds :>) Seeds from dried fruit seem to grow wherever they land for me. Anyone want some?

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

24 Jul 10 sheree (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi there, I have just found out about the amazing loofah plants and saw your comment about receving some seeds. I would really like some please. Could you please send some to me. Sheree Berghan PO BOX 57 CHINCHILLA QLD 4413

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment

15 Jan 10 Paula (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Loofas wow - grow like crazy with just a fence to run along - eat them when they are like zuchinni size. The vine took off up a tree nearby - a bit hard to pick then. I have seeds coming out my ears. great for getting the dirt off in the bath room.

Reply to this comment | Post a new comment